Jaguar To Buy Daimlers

From Our City Editor

Jaguar Cars, Ltd., has arranged to buy for cash the Daimler Company from the Birmingham Small Arms group.

The price is not disclosed and it is not stated how many cars, buses and armoured vehicles Daimler produces, but in 1958- 59 the company accounted for 15 per cent of the turnover of the B.S.A. group, which in that year reported trading profits of £3,519,000. It is intended to continue production of the current range of Daimler vehicles, but the Daimler factory at Coventry, which has more than a million square feet of floor space, will also provide the facilities needed for expanding Jaguar's own output.

This new capacity is clearly the main attraction for Jaguar of the acquisition. Jaguar has wanted to expand and has been refused planning permission. It is now getting a large factory-the same size as its present one-within a five minute journey.

Jaguar Buys Daimler Company From B.S.A.
The £3,875.000 in cash shown in the last balance-sheet of Jaguar Cars suggested that the company was planning something-and it was not merely the introduction of new models. The answer, or at least part of it, was provided by last night's announcement that Jaguar had bought the Daimler Company for cash (the amount was unstated) from the Birmingham Small Arms group.

This is clearly a deal which will be of considerable benefit to both sides. The poSition of the small producer in the motor industry has not been easy in the postwar era (though the Jaguar record with an output of 20,000 cars in 1958-59 shows that there is one exception at least). This transaction means that Jaguar now has the facilities for expansion that it needs, while B.S.A., in its turn, is shedding its motor interests which have clearly found life difficult in recent years.

Jaguar originally planned to build additional factory space in the Coventry area, where it operates at present, but like other manufacturers, was refused planning permission. While the others who produce on a larger scale, have gone into what the industry regards as the "wilds ", Jaguar is fufilling its aim by buying a factory, the same size as its present one, which is within five minutes' distance.

Production of the current range of Daimler vehicles will continue, and the factory will also provide the facilities needed to increase Jaguar's own output. Thus Jaguar has gained the additional capacity it needs and in the area where it wanted it to be.